The American Politics Thread

Re Mickey
We probably should have pyramided our posts, but getting back to the previous post, I think our perspective differs because of the different cultures you and I live in.
The Republican vote around here includes upper and middle class suburbia, as well as working class, blue collar. Memphis may be geographically in the middle of the country, but culturally we are the most northern city in Mississippi, and very much part of the old deep south.

npjnpj wrote: This healthcare thing: I don't live in the US, so perhaps someone could explain to me how such a plan could even be considered. Over the next few years there would be be tens of thousands of US citizens that will suffer a slow and painful death at the hands of this plan through loss of health insurance. That's more than any terrorist acts could hope to achieve, short of setting off a nuclear bomb in the middle of New York, which could be considered to be more humane, considering the circumstances. And there are even republicans for whom this plan doesn't go far enough. As an outsider: this is barbarism on a scope beyond measure. What's wrong with these republicans?

Edited by JJLehto - March 25 2017 at 12:46

js (Easy Money) wrote: Re Mickey We probably should have pyramided our posts, but getting back to the previous post, I think our perspective differs because of the different cultures you and I live in. The Republican vote around here includes upper and middle class suburbia, as well as working class, blue collar. Memphis may be geographically in the middle of the country, but culturally we are the most northern city in Mississippi, and very much part of the old deep south.

as I said man... changing...working its way down the coasts.. last seen in what was once deeply red outside of urban sh*tholes....Georgia.. which Trump won of course but not decisively. as  he lost 50% of the winning margin Romney had.. just like Texas..in 2012. The bluing of suburbia and of course the coming minority majority are going to, have already started to flip historically red areas.

but like anything related to social and political evolution and enlightenment...

it will take some time before it reaches the stone ages that is anything related to Mississippi.. northern or not

http://www.palmerreport.com/news/donald-trumps-russia-scandal-explodes-boris-epshteyn-abruptly-resigns-from-white-house-post/2061/

one thing that will need to soon be written into our political lexicon

catastrophic success...

already bit the Congress on the ass.  They never expected to be IN power.. and obviously were not prepared to be anything but mud slingers and little children being against anything and everything the other side did.  Likely will cost them and thankfully by the time they learn (if they do) they'll be out on their asses.

The more interesting and perhaps historical application of that might be for Trump...  no one thought he'd be elected. None more so than himself.....  many did wonder why he was running.. and many thought it was *of course) to amp up his brandname and a TV network he was planning to do after the election.

wow...  and to think the election itself was mind boggling..  even the thought we ourselves are perhaps in the midst of what our parents saw and a complete dumpster fire of Presidency...  good times. 

npjnpj wrote: I don’t quite get this "the GOP was not prepared for office" thing. Over the course of time it’s been quite usual for any opposition to slipp (see what I did there?) into the governing role after an election and vice versa, so why should it be a problem for this transition in particular? It’s only been 8 years since Bush junior was President, and a lot of the same faces are still around in the GOP. So even if they didn’t expect to get into office this time around, it’s hardly as if they were all newbies.

what is not to get.. they have spent the last 10 years being against everything the Democrats have done.  How many times did they vote to repeal Obamacare...  knowing it would never pass (survive a veto). Yet when Trump voter lost their minds, their sences and the wits and elected him they surprised everyone.. none more than Trump and the GOP leaders. It is one thing to oppoose based on pure ideology ..  it is quite the other to try to goven based on pure ideology.. which is what the health care bill was all about. Who cares if millions lose their coverage.. costs for seniors go up 100's of percent...  it was something ideologically based. Fear of big government and cutting taxes.  They will need to learn what the Democrats have mastered.. ideology is great for feeding the masses.. but real governing makes give and take, compromise and considering the results on the people more than party loyalty or petty ideology.

As has been brought up many times in the last few days..  the GOP had 7 years to craft something to replace it.. they never did... and it showed.. they simply didn't care. It was all about pleasing their knuckle head supporters.. REPEAL REPEAL REPEAL.. whoops... no Democrat to veto that... you mean we have to eiether explain why we are taking away health coverage from millions.. or come up with a better system.

nope.. was beyond their abilites.. as I've said.. their ideology is bankrupt.. it works if being sold to idiot supporters.. in practial reality..  it is bankrupt... 

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Edited by npjnpj - March 26 2017 at 17:59

Republicans complain that government can't do anything right, so they get into office and they prove it.

micky wrote: or better... people claim government is broken.. and does nothing.. yet continue to elect Republicans..

There's a book I'm on the verge of ordering. I've wanted to read it for some time now. It's called, What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America, by Thomas Frank. I heard the author speak a couple times a few years ago on C-Span about people voting against their interest. He had a lot of good insight. I have a lot of relatives in Kansas too.

He also (on TV) lamented the loss of blue collar liberals over the years, something which we could have used more of in the last election. I believe this is an issue he delves into in this book.






Edited by HackettFan - March 26 2017 at 21:16

Thanks for the explanations, guys. I hadn't realised that the Conservatives had become so disrupted since Bush's administration. I only really got interested in US internal politics since Trump's name suddenly came up last year, so there's a lot I have to catch up on.


Edited by npjnpj - March 27 2017 at 00:32